Peasant rebel movement of the mid-14th century that flourished in northern China at the end of the Yuan dynasty (1206–1368).
The Red Turbans, whose leader was regarded as an incarnation of the bodhisattva Maitreya , were opposed to alien Mongol rule; their movement gained momentum from the famine that resulted from crop failures and floods in the 1330s. Their marauding, which began in the 1350s, took them as far as Korea, where their incursions contributed to the downfall of the Koryŏ dynasty. Though their rebellion was put down, rival rebel forces under Zhu Yuanzhang (1328–98) toppled the Yuan dynasty and founded the Hongwu emperor .